East-West Seed Foundation expands vegetable farming training across five regions to boost farmers’ incomes
The East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation is training smallholder farmers across five regions in vegetable production to improve their incomes and promote farming as a profitable business.
The East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation is expanding vegetable farming training to five regions in order to enhance farmers' incomes and position farming as a lucrative business. Supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Accra, the four-year project focuses on the Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Ashanti, and Upper East regions.
Jemima Djah, the Foundation's Country Director, revealed that the project is in its second year and offers practical training to enable farmers to establish and manage vegetable businesses. The training covers various aspects of vegetable production, including crop selection, business planning, land preparation, seedling production, transplanting, mulching, pest management, and water conservation techniques.
Since the beginning of the training activities in 2023, more than 30,000 farmers have been trained, and the number is still growing. The Foundation works with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture's extension services and traditional leaders to identify communities and engage willing farmers to participate. The participating farmers supply land for the demonstration plots, which measure 250 square meters each.
The training program consists of at least 10 modules, providing farmers with essential knowledge to assess crop suitability, production costs, potential yields, and market opportunities before committing their resources. Participants also learn water conservation methods and pest control strategies, such as traps and mulching, which can help reduce expenses on water, weeding, and labor.
In the Ashanti Region, the Foundation is encouraging cocoa farmers to explore vegetable production as an alternative income source during periods outside cocoa harvesting. The Foundation aims to empower women and young people, showcasing the income-generating potential of agriculture.
The newly opened learning farm at the University of Ghana will serve as a demonstration site for partners in Accra and provide students with internship and practical agricultural training opportunities. Additionally, the Foundation plans to establish a learning farm in the Upper East Region to support farmers and communities in that area.
Written by urgent.news from MyJoyOnline Ghana's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
